Goodreads | Watchmen (Volume 3) by Alan Moore

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Schmacko rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

08/11/08

Read in August, 2008

I can understand why this is considered a holy tome in the field of graphic novels. The plot is complex, it’s unique, and it’s well drawn. Also, it’s got the Holy Grail of every geeky comic book fan's wetdreams – lots of cool gadgets and stuff.

I ain’t knocking that. Imagination abounds, and I am thoroughly impressed. I love that comic books and graphic novels create their entire world – but – BUT then again every piece of art creates it’s own world. And ALL OF THOSE OTHE...more I can understand why this is considered a holy tome in the field of graphic novels. The plot is complex, it’s unique, and it’s well drawn. Also, it’s got the Holy Grail of every geeky comic book fan's wetdreams – lots of cool gadgets and stuff.

I ain’t knocking that. Imagination abounds, and I am thoroughly impressed. I love that comic books and graphic novels create their entire world – but – BUT then again every piece of art creates it’s own world. And ALL OF THOSE OTHER ARTS MAKE EMOTIONALLY ENGAGING STORIES!

I get frustrated because my graphic-novel friends keep foisting these things on me. They love me, they see me as very imaginative and very supportive of their creativity, but they cannot seem to get why I go cold at graphic novels.

This one was thrust upon me, because I was affected by the movie The Dark Knight. I got emotionally engaged. I felt hopeless with Batman. I got a knot in my stomach when that horrible, unspeakable thing happened two-thirds of the way through the film. I was troubled by Joker’s logic, and I was frustrated with the people in the ferries. In other words, I WAS EMOTIONALLY ENGAGED!

A lot of these graphic novels and stuff seem to think that if they simply tickle your creative brain, they’ve succeeded. I want more – I want to laugh and cry and cheer and feel despair. I want a core of true human story. Gadgets and colors and costumes and superpowers don't make me weep or shout or ponder or giggle or sigh. Well, they make me sigh - with frustrationa nd boredom.

I know I sound angry at these things. I get frustrated, because I don’t think this is so hard to understand that I need emotional stimulation. And yet, my graphic-novel friends still press these books in my hand, hoping to unlock my wonder and amazement.

I was full of wonder and amazement at The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a novel about a superhero and the super-human who spawned him. I am not above the magical, mystical, and fantastic (I love Harry Potter), but there has to be more than just gadgetry and explosions. There has to be honesty and the courage to plumb the human experience. I felt terribly at Kavalier’s struggles with violence and anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe. Sam Clay’s secrets were heart-breaking. Kavalier’s search for revenge and Sam’s search for respect were emotionally engaging. In Harry Potter, I rallied behind Mrs. Weasley's maternal drive. I loved Harry's indignance at cruelty. I thought Hermione's concern for elves was sweet, and complicated (who know they wanted to be slaves). Chabon succeeded at making me feel, and so did Rowling. The Watchmen did not.

The Watchmen is about two generations of heroes. One was human – using costumes, strength, and cunning. The next was led bys a superhuman, Dr. Manhattan – they were both human and somewhat superhuman. Then a law was passed making their work illegal, and they went underground. It’s only when someone starts bumping off the old retired heroes that a mystery starts, a mystery that asks the esoteric and totally intellectual (read: unemotional) question of why humans can be drawn to the edge of doom, and what they need to do to stop just at the edge.

Oh - for the people who know and love The Watchmen - I felt bad for how Dr. Manhattan couldn’t have a human relationship. And I understood why Laurie got infuriated. The thrill of Laurie and Dan becoming superheroes again was honest and wonderful. But that was it – I didn’t feel the panic of the world ending (mostly because if it did happen, there’d be no story). I didn’t care for the casual use of rape as a plot point. None of the long-winded, theoretical discussion about whether humanity was worth saving had any emotional pull to me. I didn’t care. In all 413 pages, I had four honest emotional reactions. One of my reactions was anger at the tangential pirate story (don’t ask – it doesn’t have any emotional or thematic reason for being there – it was just added because someone thought it was cool).

Cool. There’s the problem. Cool things don’t make me feel. People can imagine and draw all the cool things in the world, and it won’t make me emotional engage. Cool things don’t make my heart race or break or pause. They leave me cold. Graphic novels are mostly cool.
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Trish rated it:

(review of isbn 3551744084)

12/09/07

Aaron's been telling me for a long time that I should read a select few of his favorite comic books. And I haven't been avoiding them. But when I'm looking around the house for something to read, I forget to wander over to the comics section. So finally he just made a stack of books for me, and I started with Watchmen.

And within the first few pages I was testing his patience with questions/comments including:

"Why is Rorshach the hero when he's clearly insane?"
"...more

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David rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

05/12/07

bookshelves: graphicnovels

Read in May, 2007

recommends it for: people interested in the nature of heroes

I just finished reading Watchmen by the very intense Alan Moore of V for Vendetta fame. I've been on a bit of a comic book/graphic novel kick recently after completing a whole host of non-fiction work for use in my Master's thesis. The Watchmen is one of those books that anyone who cares, or cared, about comic books and superheroes should read. Set in an alternate American time line, skew...more I just finished reading Watchmen by the very intense Alan Moore of V for Vendetta fame. I've been on a bit of a comic book/graphic novel kick recently after completing a whole host of non-fiction work for use in my Master's thesis. The Watchmen is one of those books that anyone who cares, or cared, about comic books and superheroes should read. Set in an alternate American time line, skewed by the existence of masked vigilantes (read: superheroes), Watchmen explores an America that wins the Vietnam War, never catches Nixon as a crook (in fact electing him to a third term), and then makes it illegal to be a superhero without doing so in service of the government.
Like Moore's other work, there are some very thinly veiled critics of the Reagan/Thatcher era. Moore visions a cowboy Americana were everyone is in it for themselves, notions of morality are arbitrary and strictly enforced, and the only officially recognized victims are those already in power. Moore exaggerates phenomenon to make a point about them the same way a satirist might. However, Moore seems instead is reading from the Orwell literary playbook here, warning of how this course of society could devolve. Like Orwell saw an inherent danger in Stalinism, Moore is warning of the dangers of the emerging framework of the Neo-Conservatives. Tough-love for the poor, welfare for the rich, jingoism, and fundamentalism are all part of Moore's world, then called Reaganism. Although Moore personally saw this through Thatcher, the basic reactionary quality was the same on both sides of the Atlantic.
This book touched my personally because it hit upon a discomfort, stemming from an initial fascination, with heroes. I spent many hours of my childhood loving Superman. Lex Luthor, by then a crooked businessman and not the crazed scientist of earlier years, was always the easy personification of evil. His occupation always reflected an area of society that created fear (mad scientists in the 60s, corporate vultures in the 80s, and now I hear politician). With Lex Luthor as the the ultimate evil, Superman by contrast became the ultimate good. The Christ metaphors were never lost on my as a child. The most recent movie did everything but use the phrase "my only begotten son" when describing Superman. And for a time the notion that all we needed was a hero was very comforting to me. However, as Moore would be quick to point out, that desire for a hero is easily exploited.
There are many people much more schooled in comics and superheroes than I that can tell you how much Watchmen changed the genre. I simply know that it did. Characters became more sophisticated and moral choices became less clear. But it is clear to me why this is such a landmark piece. Moore has that ability of all great writers to chastise and console in the same breath, on the same thought. He tells his readers that superheroes are pathetic refuge from reality, but then invites you to share in that fantasy. And for a time you are taken with this world, think maybe there could be a place for superheroes in our world. Then the end comes and you realize what kind of world our supposed heroes really want to bring us. ...less

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Punk rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

08/24/07

bookshelves: graphic-novel

Read in January, 2005

Graphic Novel. It's 1985. We won the Vietnam War. Nixon is still president. Someone is killing off costumed superheroes, and the world is on the brink of nuclear war. I wasn't expecting to like this book. What, I wondered, did a comic from the late eighties have to offer me, a hip and happening girl in the oughts? You can practically see the dots in the color! I'd checked it out from the library on the advice of friends, and I'd tried to read it once before, but gave up before I got even five pa...more

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Nicole rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

07/23/08

bookshelves: graphic-novels

I realize that what I'm about to say is as close as you can get to comic book blasphemy, but I think that 1) Alan Moore is the most overrated comic book writer ever and 2) this graphic novel is overblown, pretentious and most unforgivable of all, boring.

To be fair, I'm somewhat of a snob when it comes to my reading habits. First and foremost, I want to be entertained. If the story happens to be deep, thought provoking or groundbreaking as well, that's icing on the cake. And the bottom lin...more

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Brendan rated it:

(review of isbn 1401207138)

06/16/07

Who’s watching Watchmen? Everybody apparently. This book—or comic book, or graphic novel, or whatever you want to call it—has been picked apart endlessly in the 20 years since it was first published, every frame microscopically studied, its plot, characters, and symbols charted out no less elaborately than Ulysses’. Its fans, like fans of everything else, are intensely protective and argumentative. Reading a book like this now, for the first time, is likely to result less in actual criti...more

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Misha is currently reading it (review of isbn 0930289234)

11/29/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

I've been told that there are continuing education requirements for being a credentialed, card-carrying member of the League of Fangirls. I wouldn't want to lose my membership in that noble society.

At least I'll be prepared to mock the movie for its inevitable failure as an adaptation. Woo!

Edit: I hate when I misuse a word. I blame lack of dinner and too much caffeine (as if there is such a thing).

***

The structure of this book isn't really conducive to tracking a page count, but...more

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Christopher rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

08/04/08

bookshelves: alternate-history

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I'd been meaning to get around to reading this for at least 15 years. And it wasn't bad at all.

I'm not too deeply steeped in super-hero lore, so maybe I'm missing some of the deep meaning.

I find it more of an interesting take on what the world was like and expected back in the mid-eighties. It's amazing how quickly I had taken that "we're all gonna die in a nuclear holocaust" fear and shoved in a box in a back closet of my mind -- not forgotten, just not perticularly useful...more

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Michael rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

06/10/08

Read in June, 2008

I've heard nothing but unflinching hyperbolic praise for this book. I wonder if it's even possible for anything to live up to the kind of hype this has suffered. It's the only graphic novel/comic book to be included on Time Magazine's list of 100 greatest novels since the beginning of Time's publication. That's a lot of pressure - to be the sole symbol and representation and of an entire art form for a popular and wide audience. I mean, this thing needs to be devastatingly good.

Forget al...more I've heard nothing but unflinching hyperbolic praise for this book. I wonder if it's even possible for anything to live up to the kind of hype this has suffered. It's the only graphic novel/comic book to be included on Time Magazine's list of 100 greatest novels since the beginning of Time's publication. That's a lot of pressure - to be the sole symbol and representation and of an entire art form for a popular and wide audience. I mean, this thing needs to be devastatingly good.

Forget all that noise, and this is just a great book. "Best ever" - I'm not sure, but it definitely stands out as a milestone, and a sort of mile marker in superhero comics, along with Frank Miller Dark Knight Returns. 1985-86 is when comics got really dark, and really sinister and scary in a real life way that had never really been approached before. Sure Galactus had come around to eat the Earth and Doctor Doom, I'm sure had hatched some Armageddon schemes, and Darkseid had set out to control everybody's thoughts, but all of those doomsday scenarios were set at a safe distance from reality, all based on ridiculous, albeit compelling, contingencies. Furthermore, those stories always provided superheros you could rely on to save the day. The great myth-makers could never get away with letting the Silver Surfer or the Fantastic Four or Superman fail at their missions to save the world.

Moore's world of Watchmen is quite different. Superheros have seen their heyday decades ago, and the American public and government now sees these masked vigilantes as nothing more than criminals, head-cases not to be trusted. What's really grim, is the evils mankind faces in reality - corrupt governments, greedy corporations - are far more sinister than anything cooked up in a comic book. Moore deals brilliantly with these issues. Why do we trust those in charge? Why do we rely on other to protect us? Should we not protect ourselves instead?

Gibbons's art is wonderful. His use of very subdued, standard layout styles lets the story speaks for itself. There's no fancy splash pages to be found here, no overwrought action sequences, no onomatopoetic sounds, no motion lines. Gibbons uses symbolism and realistic rendering to create an atmosphere of grit and foreboding terror. I'm sure there's been papers written on his use of the smiley face throughout the book. I don't want to touch on any of the specific symbols here, but they're used in such a way that they never overshadow the plot, but are not so buried to become obscure.

I definitely wasn't let down by this book, but can't give it 5 stars. First of all, about half of the chapters in the book are diversions from the main thread of the story, giving insight and history to each of the characters. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't get rid of any of them, and honestly they are some of the best reading in the book - especially Rorschach's episodes - but therein may lie the problem. We are left with about 5 chapters that deal with the crisis at hand - the very fate of life on Earth. Most comic book stories can be dealt with in such a span, but Moore's story is too grand, too great to stop here. Or maybe that's a statement in itself. When it's too late, it's just too late. (Maybe Carole King should sing our Armageddon songs.) Any ending will come all too quickly.

Anyway, I'm willing to concede that this is probably one of the best superhero stories I've ever read - if it's actually a superhero story. It kind of destroys the whole notion of superheros, makes them irrelevant. I don't even want to get into the politics of this story. Too much, too much. ...less

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Amy rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

11/06/07

bookshelves: picture-books

Read in September, 2007

So, Watchmen. For starters, it is a landmark in the world of comics, one of those cosmic events after which nothing in the genre was the same. It turned the world of super heroes inside out, turned it on its ear, deconstructed it, parodied and elevated it. And you want to know the most amazing part? Alan Moore knew what he was doing. Read The Watchmen or read it again and pay attention to the prose sections in between comics. He tells you, almost directly, "I am changing what a comic book c...more

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John rated it:

(review of isbn 3551744084)

07/23/08

Read in February, 2007

recommends it for: Fanatical comic book readers

The Watchmen is considered one of the most important comic books in history. The costumes are less spectacular, the origins more bleak, the heroes more despicable and/or self-loathing, the villains almost non-existent, the relationships more strained and the political overtones more blatant than were almost ever seen in mainstream comics before. Its effects were massive: it ushered in a new wave of "cool," where Superman and Spider-Man were lame, and everyone wanted murderous an...more

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Jerzy rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

05/17/07

Read in May, 2007

You can call it a graphic novel, but it's really a comic book about superheroes. And that's good, because that's the only way this story could be told! If you're creating a twisted ironic story about comic-book superheroes dealing with the real world, then you also need to be able to mess around with the conventions of the medium where your subjects arose. A novel or play or whatever just wouldn't work as well.

There are some really powerful sections (especially Rorschach's story and its effe...more You can call it a graphic novel, but it's really a comic book about superheroes. And that's good, because that's the only way this story could be told! If you're creating a twisted ironic story about comic-book superheroes dealing with the real world, then you also need to be able to mess around with the conventions of the medium where your subjects arose. A novel or play or whatever just wouldn't work as well.

There are some really powerful sections (especially Rorschach's story and its effect on the psychiatrist and his wife). There are lots of great metaphorical parallel stories, illustrating one conversation with imagery of another event.

But my favorite part was how each character takes a different idea of justice to extremes:
- we have a duty to do good to one another, using only good means, whenever possible
- we should do good, but the ends justify the means
- forget the idea of "doing good"; evil must simply be punished by any means necessary
- the whole distinction between good and evil is all one big joke
- good and evil, and for that matter all of humanity, are irrelevant in the big scheme of things

In my view, the first philosophy is best since it's the only one that never treats human beings as mere things, abstractions, obstacles or toys. (Terry Pratchett's Discworld books have a surprising amount to say on this topic.)

<spoiler>
But in this book, the Machiavellian character proves most effective, though it feels extremely immoral. Hence I feel a little gratified (yet also largely saddened) that, in the wake of September 11th, it's clear that the these heroes' way of saving the world wouldn't really be effective at all. Terrorism should be a perfect foe to unite against; but instead, we managed to screw it up to the point where the world's nations are freaking out and becoming either more aggressive or more isolationist.
</spoiler>

I can't say it's an "enjoyable" read - quite depressing and creepy with too much blood and gore for my taste. But it's DEEP, and I definitely feel it'd be worthwhile to read it again....less

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R. rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

10/26/08

bookshelves: 1974-2002

Read in November, 1999

Movie Spoiler: Here is 2:34 of exclusive footage from the upcoming Watchmen movie...instead of the Sold Out Nov. 2 Pale Horse concert, Zach Snyder enlisted a Big Name Talent to usher in, serenade the apocalypse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

I wanna die.... Indeed. Kind of heavyhanded with the symbolism, but I'm sure it's all cinematic foreshadowing in strict reference to page one...more

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Evil_Dead_Junkie rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

12/09/07

bookshelves: comics

I'm rereading Watchmen for the first time in about five years and have thus decided to start a petition to officially change its name to creamy goodness.

Seriously its one of those blessed rereadings where every twenty pages or so I come across a sequence and go "Yeah I remember this this part kicks ass this is my favorite part of the book." and then twenty pages later I repeat the phrase.

People always remember how important the book is. But I think we forget just how goddamned...more

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Colin rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

10/29/08

Read in October, 2008

“Who watches the Watchmen?” is the question from the Roman poet, Juvenal, about who has authority over those in authority. Now, who reads the graphic novel Watchmen by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins is an entirely different and far simpler question. The answer: Comic book nerds.

A graphic novel is a comic, although it has differences in length and complexity of storyline (akin more to a literary novel than an episodic piece) and is often aimed at ...more “Who watches the Watchmen?” is the question from the Roman poet, Juvenal, about who has authority over those in authority. Now, who reads the graphic novel Watchmen by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins is an entirely different and far simpler question. The answer: Comic book nerds.

A graphic novel is a comic, although it has differences in length and complexity of storyline (akin more to a literary novel than an episodic piece) and is often aimed at mature audiences. Watchmen came out in twelve issues, starting in 1986. Self-contained, the characters don’t appear anywhere else, so it’s an origin story and a concluding piece all in one. Set in an alternate history where the Nixon is still President (now in his fourth term) and the U.S. is close to nuclear war with the Soviet Union, it is clear that Watchmen has a political bend. This works well, however, as it’s more about the abuse of power than the any political viewpoint. There are no real superheroes—save one, Doctor Manhattan, a man who was caught in a nuclear explosion and is now a blue being existing outside of time and human confines—but the graphic novel does a good job of probing into the psyche of what makes someone want to go out and fight crime. Some are mentally imbalanced, others feel forced into the work by a hero parent, but all the characters have issues to one degree or another. In the initial pages, the heroes are dealing with the murder of one of their own. The crazed vigilante Rorschach—my favorite next to the Comedian, a nihilistic cynic whose very presence mocks the notion of a hero—becomes convinced there is a greater plot to eliminate masked heroes.

One of the fascinating things about Watchmen is that it dissects the necessary parts of a superhero into differing characters. Generally speaking, in the old comic book days, superheroes were powerful, moral and pristine in temperament. They were all of the above. In Watchmen, the characters who are powerful aren’t necessarily moral (and vice versa), so even if someone can save the world, doesn’t mean they care to. Some have radical political views (bordering on Nazism); others are contracted to work by the government. Alan Moore’s writing does a great job of analyzing the impact of having a group of masked heroes in society, how the average person would respond. Also, since this is a review of a comic, I must comment on the art style. Dave Gibbons style is simple, but effective. Usually, the story is told in a nine panel format (three by three per page), but when Gibbons deviates, it’s well done. The full page panels of issue twelve hit with great impact. Additionally, the colorist, John Higgins, does a good job of echoing the darkening tone of the piece as the colors literally fade down as the graphic novel draws on.

Unfortunately, Watchmen makes the bold assumption that you know comic books and have bought into all its tenets. No wonder comic book nerds were blown away by how Watchmen twisted the genre (as is evidenced by its rippling influence and the fact that its sales allowed the publisher DC to overtake rival Marvel for a brief period of time). If you’re not a comic book nerd though, you didn’t buy in anyway, so many of the deviations just seem to make sense. Of course people are flawed… even heroes. Despite all the bad conventions Watchmen deviates away from, it still gets snared by dreadful monologues. It becomes clear they didn’t have enough material for twelve issues. As a result, much supplemental material is thrown in. Sometimes this works well, as is the case with minor character storylines (the doctor who changes his life after interviewing one of the heroes is my favorite) and fictional written works at the back of each issue add to the series’ backstory. Then there’s the comic within the comic—the commentary within the commentary—that one of the minor characters is reading. It only works about 15% of the time, and the rest of the time, well, the eye starts skipping. Despite the flaws, the three artists created a seminal piece for the comic book medium that is still a fairly good read today. Three stars.

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Josh rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

08/13/08

bookshelves: graphic-novel, sci-fi

Read in August, 2008

I, like many others, purchased this book after seeing the preview for the movie. I had heard about this but never gave it much thought. Unlike Sin City and V for Vendetta, I decided that this time I will actually read the material before I watch the movie. Well, I have to day it's not at all what I expected and now I'm not so sure I want to watch the movie at all.

For anyone who's going to use this review as their basis for deciding wheather or not they are going to read Watchmen, let me sta...more I, like many others, purchased this book after seeing the preview for the movie. I had heard about this but never gave it much thought. Unlike Sin City and V for Vendetta, I decided that this time I will actually read the material before I watch the movie. Well, I have to day it's not at all what I expected and now I'm not so sure I want to watch the movie at all.

For anyone who's going to use this review as their basis for deciding wheather or not they are going to read Watchmen, let me start by telling you that this is a thinking piece, not an action piece. It does have some action, but it's pretty sparse (though it is entertaining when it comes about.) Watchmen is more of a character drama, and considering the graphic medium, the characters are fairly complex and interesting. Each one has their own unique story and reasoning behind becoming a "costumed adventurer," aptly named due to the fact with the exception of Dr. Manhattan, that they don't have any true super powers. I am very impressed that Moore never included any character "thought text" to tell you what they were thinking. He manages to do it all with dialogue, faacial expressions and situations.

I was drawn in from the very beginning. The book wastes no time as it starts with the murder of a long time costumed hero and an ensuing investigation his former colleagues. We are introduced to these retired heroes one at a time with plenty of snippets of back story to explain how it all came about and why in this alternate reality, costumed heroes are a part of everyday life.

The further I got into Watchmen, the stranger it became and as it ended, I realized it wasn't at all what I thought it would be. It's almost a study of human character and I'm sure that someone more intelligent than I would be able to pick it apart and analyze it to death, drawing parallels to real life situations. I really did enjoy it and I'd recommend it highly, but not to everyone. There are plenty of readers who don't want to read a book for story and characters alone and those readers may not find what the are looking for here.

This brings me back to the movie. I can't really see this story working as a blockbuster Hollywood film. If they keep the movie very close to the source material -which I hope they will- it's going to be a lot different than people expect. If they try to appeal to a wider audience and throw in some extra action, they're going to detract from the story and the people who appreciate the book may be dissapointed. But, so far from what I'm seeing in the preview, it looks like it's going to keep pretty true to the book. And Dr. Manhattan looks awesome.

But this review is about the book, not the movie. I really liked it. It may be the best comic book/graphic novel I've ever read. But, I haven't read any comics since I was a kid and even then not so much. I don't quite think I'd call Watchmen a masterpiece or compare it to some of the best regular novels I've read, but I liked it. It's earned a permanent place on my shelf and I look forward to rereading it in the future to see what further tidbits I can get out of it. ...less

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Tung rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

08/26/08

bookshelves: graphic-novels

Read in August, 2008

The only graphic novel on Time Magazine’s list of 100 Best English Language Novels Since 1923 (which is a farce since Maus I and Maus II should be on that list as well), Watchmen is the type of work that makes the case for thinking more broadly about our concept of “novels”. Watchmen tells the story of an alternate world in the 1980’s where the US and USSR are locked in a Cold War on the brink of leading to an apocalyptic showdown; where Richard Nixon is serving out his fourth consecutiv...more

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Tim rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

04/20/08

Read in January, 1988

recommends it for: the entire human race.

With a major motion picture in production, I have 100% expectation that many people will read Watchmen and be completely turned off, confused, and angry. For those who will keep reading it, I hope this brief review helps you.

With Watchmen, writer Alan Moore is deeply engaged in sociopolitical commentary with a superhero continuity as the canvas. Whereas most writers simply use characters to puppet their own prospectives and maybe pull a twist at the end, Moore's Watchmen captures better than...more

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Elizabeth rated it:

(review of isbn 0930289234)

04/16/08

bookshelves:

Watchmen (Volume 3)

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